Versus
by Aeryck Marco
Summary: Fayt, a talented and overzealous swordsman and a fan of the Battle Simulator, accidentally takes his fun too far.
1. The Devastating Loss

_I should probably mention beforehand that if you've had any preconceived notions about some kind of romance story, you're not going to find one here. So if you're reading this for a pairing, go away. If you're not, and are genuinely interested in this crazy thing, then keep on reading._

_So, anyway, a tiny introduction: I was sitting around one day, playing Star Ocean as so very many of us do, when I beat the Ethereal Queen! "Hoorah!" I say, doing my dance of joy. After Lenneth, she seemed like nothing. Anyway, I was ecstatic and wondered what this strange Angel Orb she dropped could be. I looked at it and went, "The noble dragon? Well, dearest self, which dragon is more noble than the mighty Crosell?" Why none, of course! Save for Norbert. Anyway, continuing on, I proceeded to Norbert's lair… I mean Crosell's lair… and watched the mini scene. "Perhaps you shouldn't do that," Nel says. Uh-oh. A warning. So, I go back to my party and change Mirage, Cliff, and Albel (who were levels fifty-three, thirty-one, and thirty-three, respectively I was leveling them up) out for my level two hundred twenty characters, Fayt, Maria, and Sophia._

_I set the orb down._

_I die._

_So, after the humiliating defeat, I decide that I should do something with my time. Well, after completing Sphere 211, I had a handy new stack of costumes to try out. So, I make my way through Peterny, swearing never to tell Sasquatch about my horrible defeat, and into the Craftsman's guild to talk to Welch. Yes, I would like to play with Paracelsus' table, no I wouldn't like to Super Size that, you can keep the penny._

_Now, even in games like Mortal Kombat, when the whole point of the game is hack, slash, expose viscera and bite someone's head off, one can get bored quickly. So, after a round each of Sophia versus Cliff (Sophia wins), Mirage versus Peppita (Mirage wins) and Adray versus Roger (Adray loses… Oh. My. God. He is the suckiest thing to ever cross gaming history. Save for Seymour. Seymour, you back-stabbing necrophiliac, you… I love you! But not Adray. 'Cause he sucks), I find myself making up stories for each of the battles, like I'm prone to do._

_So… based off of the results of the battles, here is the story that I came up with while playing Versus Mode in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (oh, yeah, I don't own that, by the way. Disclaimers suck… but not as much as Adray.) Bear in mind that there are a lot of differences from the game. Basically, all that is the same are the names of people and the places, which don't even exist in the same area as in the game. So… now that you understand everything about this story… let us continue onto the actual reading. I've wasted enough of your time. Adray sucks._

Versus

Chapter One: The Devastating Loss

Sophia had just closed her newest book on Symbology, which Master Adray had told her would someday reveal to her the means of casting Meteor Swarm ("This is the Profound Scroll," he said seriously, taking it off of a high shelf and handing it to her, "a very old piece of work, but powerful." Despite the fact that the scroll was indeed a book, Sophia had elatedly taken it and begun to study it immediately), when her best friend, Fayt Leingod, poked his head around the corner of her classroom door and exclaimed, very excitedly, "Sophia! The Battle Simulator's just been repaired! C'mon, before everyone else finds out!"

Sophia frowned inwardly, throwing on a mask of glee for Fayt's sake. Why she put up with this kind of manner from him she would never know. "Oh, really? C'mon! There's this new symbol I've been wanting to try…"

Fayt waited patiently in the door as Sophia jammed the book-scroll into her bag and pressed the keypad outside of the door to her empty classroom. The Moonbase, though full of its own security measures, still ordered that even the most miniscule precautions be taken lest someone take it upon himself or herself to destroy something important. One of Fayt's former classmates, Albel (Albel the Wicked, he liked to be called), had recently broken into the kitchens and had been subsequently expelled.

"Sophia! Hurry up; let's go!" Fayt moaned, practically dancing in spot. His tweed trousers and jacket made him look rather silly, like a rabid British man. At least the girls' uniforms weren't quite so disgusting, blue plaid with a darker over-jacket.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" barked Sophia in response, startling him slightly. _Good_, she thought to herself, _maybe that'll teach him something_. "All right, c'mon."

Fayt grabbed her wrist and pulled her quickly down a hallway and across a bridge (both which were surprisingly lacking in people), stopping at a small, circular platform. The moment they had both set foot on the floor, they were teleported below.

Fayt was practically skipping with glee towards the instrument panel. Sophia shook her head minutely as she watched him. He was a good fighter; there was no doubt about it; he had only ever lost to Albel before. She knew she didn't stand a chance against him, but appeasing her friend was worth losing horribly.

"Ready?" Fayt called. Sophia answered affirmatively, setting her bag on the outskirts of the mini-arena. "Okay!" Then with the eager press of a button, their world changed.

As it was only an educational Battle Simulator, they weren't allowed different scenes, but this never stopped Fayt from letting loose a battle oath, "I won't hold back!" he yelled as the neon-green, nonexistent weapons appeared in each of their hands.

"This'll be easy!" Sophia taunted, wiggling her fingers at him and clutching her staff tightly. Fayt gripped his sword and grinned. He raised his eyebrows, Sophia nodded, and they began.

"Thunder Flare!" Sophia cried immediately, taking a few steps backwards. Fayt was caught in a torrent of small electric shocks. With a grunt, Sophia forced the last major burst of lightning and stood still, catching her breath as Fayt charged forward. He raised his sword, swinging it down with all of his might, but at the last minute Sophia scooted out of the way. Behind him, she swung her staff quickly into his back, the artificial armor protecting him from the blunt of her blow.

"Ow!" he yelled, glaring at her. That was probably the first time that the Symbologist had ever successfully got in a hit. Sophia smirked and began to turn and run, but Fayt moved his sword in an uppercut, knocking her off of her feet. He leapt to the side and swung it again, knocking her forward in the opposite way, only to dart forward once more and jam the hilt of the blade into her stomach, knocking her down. "Take that!"

Sophia scrambled to her feet as Fayt recuperated from his burst of activity, running about five yards away. She braced herself; aiming her palm towards the blue-haired boy and yelling, "Burn!"

Two large firebolts shot from her hand, flying towards him at high speed. At the last moment, he darted forward and raised his own hand to cast his own symbol, when the two balls of flame turned around and struck him in the back.

He fell forward, cursing under his breath. By the time he had managed to stand to his feet again, Sophia had cried, "Thunder Flare!" a second time and enveloped him in electricity once more.

He had barely recovered from this attack when two more firebolts and another bout of lightning caused the computer to say, "Warning: Player One's health is low. Warning: Player One's health is low."

Fayt growled and breathed heavily. As he prepared to run, Sophia began an Earth Glaive symbol, but he suddenly burst on a burst of speed, charging forward and knocking her down. She quickly clambered to her feet, only to have Fayt cry, "I call this my Sword of Fury!" Three quick slashes and a hearty thrust of the sword threw Sophia several feet backwards. But once again, Fayt was out of breath.

She ran forward and with a small, "Hyah!" swung her staff upwards. Fayt managed to block it and swung his sword again, but Sophia parried it, running far away. She couldn't get him from this far away with her long-range attack, but if he came a little closer…

It was then, as she watched Fayt run with inhuman speed towards her, that she realized: She was winning. Fayt Leingod was practically the school's champion of the Battle Arena, but it was she who was winning… She, a mere Symbologist…

He was in range. Sophia swung her staff at the air, generating a large ball of purple light. This was her personal attack, and one of the most useful as it barely drained any of her own energy but had been known to somehow incapacitate several simulated enemies without knocking them unconscious.

The ball of light shot forward at high speed, but Fayt was unable to dodge it. It connected, and all of the simulated items, armor, weapons and room, immediately disappeared. Sophia stared at Fayt as he picked himself up from the ground, unable to hear her ears: "Player One loses, Player Two wins. Player One loses, Player Two wins. Would you like to play again?"

In an unnaturally demonic voice, Fayt looked up at the ceiling and screamed, "NO!" before tearing out of the room, kicking Sophia's bag aside as he headed towards the teleporter.

"No, Fayt, wait! I'm sorry!" she cried in vain as he disappeared in a swirl of blue lights. The look in his eye was murder.

Angry with herself for getting carried away and disallowing her friend his greatest joy, Sophia snatched up her bag and went up the teleporter as well, in time to see Fayt's blue hair whip through a shutting door.

She walked slowly back up towards her classroom, where she would read some more while waiting to discuss further symbological matters with Master Adray. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have done that to him? Fighting was his favorite thing! How would she feel if someone other than Master Adray challenged her to a duel of symbols and wiped the floor with her?

"Probably still nowhere as angry as Fayt," she muttered to herself.

Sophia finally reached the door to the classroom and was in the process of putting in the code to unlock the door when a voice over her shoulder said her name. Turning around, she saw Ms. Koas, the physical education teacher and, most importantly, Battle Master.

"Oh, hello, Ms. Koas," Sophia mumbled, eyes cast downward.

"Sophia, is something wrong with Fayt? He just kicked Peppita Rosetti and stormed out. What happened?"

"The Battle Simulator's open again," she answered simply. The classroom door opened and she entered, Ms. Koas following slightly behind.

"I don't understand," she said, frowning, "that's Fayt's favorite thing, wouldn't he have been excited?"

Sophia, sadly, glanced into her eyes.

"You mean… oh, no… You didn't beat him, did you?"

Slowly, Sophia nodded. "I didn't think I was getting so powerful with Symbology. I didn't mean to."

Ms. Koas smiled consolingly, putting a hand on Sophia's shoulder. "Don't you feel at all sorry, Sophia, not one bit. It's about time that Fayt learned the other side of fighting. I'll talk with him after the weekend, okay? In the meantime… you should be studying, shouldn't you? The fact that you beat Fayt with symbols is wonderful. He should be proud of you, too."

And with that, Ms. Koas turned and walked out of the room, her blond braid waving as if in goodbye.

"Sophia? Sophia? Are you there? Are you sleeping? Wake up!"

This sentence and others like it suddenly began filling Sophia's dreams of mastering Meteor Swarm until she realized that the loud buzzing was not meteors bursting through the atmosphere but her Compact Communicator attempting to get her attention.

She sat upright in bed, rubbing her eyes, as another vehement exclamation sounded, causing her to angrily grab the communicator from her bedside table and flip it open. "What? Who is this? It's three-thirty in the morning!"

"Sophia? It's Fayt. You can't tell what I sound like by now?"

Sophia suddenly became very awake, effortlessly recalling the previous day's happenings. "Yeah? What's the matter? Are you okay?"

He laughed. "Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I want you to come to the church. Into the Ethereal Queen room."

"What?"

"Yeah. And bring your practice staff. Hurry!"

With that, he turned off his communicator. Sophia sat there stunned for a few moments, reeling. He was crazy. There was no way she'd be allowed to go so late at night.

_Then you'll just have to sneak out, won't you? Come on, Sophia, which are you more worried about: your angelic record or your best friend?_

Grumbling, Sophia changed out of her pajamas into a pink shirt and denim capris. After grabbing her Moon Rod from beside her bed and shoving her communicator into her pocket, she snuck out of her bedroom window down into the streets of Aquios, past the guards at the gate of the city. A simple Gremlin-summoning symbol was enough to distract them. She ran forty yards to the old church ruins, and there she found Fayt, swinging his sword in practice.

"Fayt?" she called tentatively, stepping forward.

He jumped and aimed his sword at her from across the room. Not that it would have done much, but he was quite skilled with the Lightning Blast symbol, which she wasn't sure would reach her or not. However, he didn't use it, so she didn't worry.

As she saw the glint in his eye as he approached her, the weight of her staff seemed to increase and she suddenly realized why she had been called here.

"Sophia? That you?"

"Yeah, it's me, Fayt. Tell me why I'm here." _Please don't be because you want to fight, please…_

"I was thinking that we should redo our match. For real this time."

Sophia swore to herself. This wouldn't be an easy one to get out of. "Fayt… that's not funny. One of us could wind up getting seriously hurt. Besides, we don't have any armor or protection or –''

He dismissed her rambling with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about that. We'll stop if one of us gets too hurt."

"No, Fayt, I'm serious."

"So am I." He raised his sword. "Are you ready?"

"Fayt, I-''

But he didn't listen, and she found herself thrown backwards onto the marble floor of the giant Ethereal Queen room. Her thud on the floor echoed throughout the large void of the space.

"Fayt, no! Stop!"

But he didn't listen. Roaring, he charged forward again and swung his blade down, real metal hitting the floor as Sophia rolled out of the way. She got to her feet quickly and shoved him away, but he turned quickly and swung. His aim was shoddy, and rather than being decapitated, the wide part of the blade hit Sophia's throat, causing her to spin and drop her staff.

She wheezed, staring at Fayt with tears streaming down her face. "Stop it, Fayt!" she cried hoarsely, but he was raising his hand. "Lightning Blast!"

The attack hit Sophia like an angry bull, and for a moment she was floating in midair as the electricity pounded her from all sides. Then it was over, and her slightly smoking body fell to the ground, her clothing singed, nose bleeding.

"C'mon, Sophia! Get up and fight! You think you're so wonderful! Let's go!"

He darted forward with his sword raised, but Sophia fortunately managed to grab her staff from the floor in front of her and held it up to block his blow. His balance was thrown askew, giving Sophia enough time to get clumsily to her feet. As she raised her staff and stared him in the eye, she asked herself, _Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to fight for my life with my best friend_?

When the words "Thunder Flare!" issued from her mouth, Sophia realized that she indeed was. Fayt was not going to back down. Talking was not going to help him. The matter was between her and his mute blade.

"Lightning Bla – ''

"Fire Bolt!"

Sophia's symbol worked first, executing a split second before Fayt had a chance to perform his own. His was blasted off of his feet and sliding across the floor as the two large firebolts struck him in the chest. Sophia noticed with disdain that a small trail of blood followed him as he slid. When he got to his feet, he nonchalantly examined his elbow, which had torn open in the heavy slide.

"That hurt!" he muttered, grinning maliciously.

Sophia breathed quickly and began to cast another symbol when Fayt suddenly leapt forward, right leg outstretched. His side kick caught her in the gut and she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach and moaning. Fayt reared his blade and brought it swishing down, but in that time Sophia put into effect a technique that Ms. Koas had been teaching them: She gathered her thoughts and expelled them outward, hardening the air around her body and initiated her Anti-Attack Aura, causing Fayt's blade to bounce back and hit him in the face. A gash was left in his right cheek where the blade sunk it.

He wiped furiously at the blood streaming down his cheek, swearing loudly. Sophia managed to clamber to her feet as Fayt stomped his foot in pain and readied her hand. "Cold, steely blades!"

A swarm of icicles burst from her hand and ripped past Fayt, several catching him in the legs, one fully embedding itself into his arm. With a cry of pain, Fayt wrenched the icicle from his arm and revealed the wound, a small, deep hole from which blood began to flow more heavily than the wound on his face. He glared at Sophia, who was still clutching her stomach, unable to fully stand up. His face was pale due to loss of blood, and his eyes were wide and furious. Was she here, now, in the real world, still besting him in battle? Sophia could read that thought in every ounce of his being.

"Earth Gl –''

But before she could finish the symbol, Fayt took three steps forward, slashing down once, twice, three times in the motion she remembered him calling Sword of Fury. In the split second before it happened, Sophia remembered the last phase of the attack: the twice-forward thrust.

She braced herself against it, but there was nothing she could really do: She felt the end of his blade penetrate her abdomen to the hilt, withdraw quickly, and then reenter two inches to the right before the final extraction.

Sophia wavered in spot for a moment, clutching at the wound, unable to stop the blood from flowing between her fingers. She noticed her blood on Fayt's hands and sword, and that seemed to be what broke her.

She fell to the floor, gasping for air, unable to speak due to the pain. She felt blood gurgling in the back of her throat. She knew that her time was nigh. Fayt… her best friend… it would be he who would end her life? Over something as stupid as a Battle Simulation loss?

Struggling, she choked three words: "Fayt… I'm… sorry…"

Her head fell back and her eyes closed as darkness finally overtook her.

_A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry… This was terribly written, I'm sorry! But it's late and I don't feel like editing it at the moment, since it's not unbearably awful. Anyway… as most people ask, please read and review, since reviews make me feel better. Here! As an incentive, I'll give you a small preview of what's to come. Well, not a preview, exactly, but hints:_

_1.) What happens when Adray discovers what has happened?_

_2.) What will Fayt do now that he has committed this heinous act?_

_3.) An exciting battle between Ms. Koas (better known as Mirage) and Albel!_

_So, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, and a thousand times more, review. Writers love to hear about what other people think of their stories. Well, at least, most of the time. I do. Sometimes. So remember two things:_

_a.) Review, and_

_b.) Adray sucks_

_Thank you and goodnight!_


	2. The Vengeful Master

So, I'm kind of writing this before I've even posted the first chapter, but I'm sitting alone in my bedroom and waiting for a friend to pick me up for a fun-filled day of adventure. Basically, we're going to be riding around in a hot car for most of the day, but I don't care, because the car is one of my favorite places on Earth.

Anyway, the first one was rather fun to write, and after finally getting it all out onto the screen, the second one kind of immediately picked up and wouldn't go away. So… despite a myriad or absence of reviews, I'm going to write this one and put it up. I hope you guys enjoy…

Oh, yeah, and one other thing: remember in the last introduction when I said that places were the same except for their location? Well, in this, Arkives is on Elicoor II (send me hate mail if you want, it's what was running through my head during Versus Mode) a _long_ ways away from Aquaria. Gemity is an amusement park pretty much like in the original game, but it's set up as all simulation, based on their world. Understand? Okay. I hope. If not… oh, well. You can read anyway.

Versus 

Chapter Two: The Vengeful Master

The maids on the third floor of castle Aquaria jumped in fright as from the floor below came the booming laughter of Master Adray, the warrior Symbologist. Without even speaking, the two maids exchanged and entire conversation:

_He's back._

_What do you think that means?_

_What else? We're going to be womanized._

_Oh, no! What should we do?_

_What else? Make a large mess and then clean it up._

Clair, Adray's embarrassed daughter, put her face in her hands as her father let loose another burst of laughter, startling the poor boy who had come to bring them dinner.

"You're a fine, strapping young lad, aren't you, m'boy? Say! What d'you think of my daughter there?"

Clair jerked upwards, afraid of what was coming. She looked the boy in the face and tried to silently communicate with him, but he didn't seem to understand.

"I think she's nice, sir, and she tips."

"HAHA! So, what'd you say if I asked you to marry her?"

"FATHER!" Clair shrieked, standing up and banging her hands on the table. "That's quite enough! I've told you before not to mess with my love life! Gregorius, you may leave," she muttered, barely glancing at the servant boy. He nodded, sat down the tray, and left.

"Clair, I wish you would be more open-minded. He was a fine young man."

"He's twelve!"

"So? In a few more years, he'll be old enough for marriage! I need grandchildren to spoil, y'know!"

Clair sank back into her seat at the finely adorned table in her personal quarters and sighed. "Can we just move on, please? I'd like it if this visit didn't end in me being pleased to see you go."

Adray's sudden change of countenance expressed his hurt, but he quickly changed it back to an almost youthful smile and nodded. "Of course, Clair, dear. What would you like to speak about?"

"Well… you basically know all that's going on with me, here in the castle… So… what about that new teaching job that Her Majesty entrusted to you? How's that going?"

Adray seemed to practically beam with pleasure as the thought of his prized pupil came to mind. "Wonderfully! See, there's this young girl named Sophia Esteed who's amazing with Symbology. And she's only seventeen! She's mastered the Explosion and Deep Freeze symbols already. The one she's most recently learned is Thunder Flare, which she hasn't had a chance to use yet in battle, but I've seen her a couple times before the Battle Simulator broke down against some of the generated enemies. You know it was she who actually broke it? A well-cast Lightning Blast symbol blew the computer out! HAHA!"

Clair listened patiently, unable to prevent the small smile that was working her face, as she listened to her father rant. Almost never had she heard of him speak of a young person so highly; apart from herself, she had heard the names of Peppita Rosetti and Roger Huxley. The mere fact that she even heard these names enough to remember them was astonishing.

"…and so after she cast eight symbols in a row without breaking a sweat, I decided that she should get the Profound Book – Scroll – and that she had the right to try and learn Meteor Swarm. I mean, she's worked a summoning symbol twice already! How much more can I teach her without having to fight?"

Clair frowned. "Father, you know that there are almost limitless symbols (as you call them, but to me they'll always be runes), so you don't have to fight in order to teach. Maybe if you stood back every once in a while and observed the fighting instead of either being a part or initiating one, you'd learn a few things yourself."

It was Adray's turn to frown. "Me? Not fight? That's crazy talk, Clair! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Father…"

Neither of them said anything further, deciding to remove the heat cover from the food and eat in silence, Adray growling every time he took a bite across from his dainty-in-appearance daughter. Almost a quarter of a minute of mutual muteness had passed when the sound of heavily thudding footsteps came tearing down their hallway. Adray suddenly perked up and stood at the same time as his daughter, knocking his plate to the floor.

"That'll be Nel," Clair murmured to herself, frowning once again. Her footsteps were unmistakable when she ran in frenzy. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Nel Zelpher threw open Clair's door and burst inside, looking both angry and anxious. She took in Adray's presence for a moment before saying, "Clair! You need to come to the church ruins; someone's been hurt or killed, they're not sure. A young girl. She's been pretty badly injured."

Clair nodded and immediately headed for the door. Adray began to follow, but Nel stopped him as Clair reached the door and turned towards the exit. "No, Uncle Adray, we don't need a lot of people there. There's already a swarm of rubber-neckers that we're trying to get rid of. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask that you stay here."

Adray opened his mouth to speak, but Nel stopped his with a wave of her hand. "No, Uncle Adray! Please! I'm asking you as your niece, not a member of the Aquarian elite."

The old man stood in one spot and glared at Nel, breathing heavily. "All right, fine," he growled in his deep voice, sitting down so heavily at the table once more that the chair cracked. "Go. I'll stay here."

Nel bowed slightly in respect. "Thank you. Why don't you go see the queen? I'm sure she can find something for you to do while you're here."

With that, she took her leave, closing the door abruptly, which brought forth a low growl of indignation from Adray. What was he thinking? He was not going to allow two young girls order him around! He wanted to go and see what was happening; he had the right! After all, it had been he who discovered the cloaked ruins several years before.

He grinned to himself as he picked up his katana. "I never said how long I would wait."

So, quite silently for such a large man, Adray quickly exited Castle Aquaria and stayed a great distance behind Nel as she jogged towards her destination. It wasn't difficult in the slightest to hide, as the streets were packed and the noise a roar. Using this to his advantage, Adray hurried along.

Upon coming across the guards to the gates, Adray slipped each of them two hundred fol with a finger pressed to his lips. They nodded in understanding and acted as if nothing of the sort had ever happened, leaving Adray to continue down the path towards the church.

Nel had been quite right to say that there were a flock of rubber-neckers outside of the doors. They were all jeering and attempting to get inside to see what was happening. Two young Runilogical defense members were fruitlessly attempting to restrain them, one even going so far as to use an Earth Glaive symbol towards the side. It caused a momentary diversion, but nothing enough to succeed.

Adray grinned and gripped his forearm while aiming his hand at the crowd. "Gravitation!" he chuckled, almost losing concentration in his amusement. A ball of shadow descended upon the drove of curious citizens and stopped them from all movement for a moment. Adray used this time to pick through them and enter the double doors to the Ethereal Queen room, the name he himself had given it several years prior upon the discovery of the place.

He approached the smaller crowd inside, this one being comprised of officers of the Runilogical weapons department and professionals. As he drew nearer, he heard snippets of their conversations:

"…her communicator registered his call at three twenty-eight in the evening…"

"…poor girl; I hope she put up a fight…"

"…she was one of the best, I heard…"

"…massive blood loss… but if only we had been a few hours earlier, we might have saved her…"

So far, no one had noticed him, but he saw the backs of Nel and Clair standing together on the outskirts of the crowd and he strode towards them, tapping the two on their backs. They jumped about a foot each, both glaring as they realized that Adray had disobeyed them and followed.

"Uncle Adray! I told you to stay in the castle!" Nel breathed angrily as Clair instructed the other inspectors to resume their work and never mind Adray's presence.

"But I'm a highly-skilled Symbologist, girls! I'm sure I can be of some use!"

They exchanged annoyed glances before nodding to each other. "Fine. See what you can make out…"

They pushed the crowd aside and revealed the massacred body of the girl who was being examined. A pool of dried blood had spread about three feet on either side of her, her once sleek and shiny brown hair matted with the sticky stuff. She had been pretty, Adray told himself, frowning. A shame.

"What do we know so far?"

"She got a call from a Fayt Leingod early this morning. Fortunately, her recorder was turned on and we were able to listen to it. So far, we've identified her as 'Sophia,' but we don't yet have a last name. We've been…"

Nel's voice trailed off into nothingness as blood suddenly began to pound in his ears. Sophia? Sophia? His prized pupil? Perhaps the best Symbologist he had ever seen? No… it couldn't be… say it wasn't true…

"S-Sophia?" he choked. What was this? Tears?

He roughly shoved aside a pair of chattering inspectors, knocking them off of their feet. Slowly, Adray leaned forward and examined her face closer.

The pale and bruised face of Sophia Esteed stared up at him, her eyes still open, looking sad. On the other side, her practice staff lay… the one he had given her after successfully working her first major symbol. Her clothes were saturated with blood, her shirt ripped diagonally, revealing part of her right breast, the small pink edge of the nipple peering out.

"NOOOOOO!" he roared, standing straight up with such a burst of energy that the symbols tattooed on his body glowed and a shockwave sent the inspectors flying backwards. "SOPHIAAAAAA!"

His vision was going blurry, his heart pounding in his throat. What could he do? She couldn't be dead… it wasn't possible…

"RESTORATION!" he screamed, pointing at her lifeless body. A tiny beam of light appeared and enveloped her, but she didn't wake up. The only difference was the closing of her eyes.

"NOOO!" Adray sank to his knees and pounded the floor so hard that the marble underneath his fists cracked. He breathed rapidly, his mind going crazy.

"WHO DID THIS?" he demanded suddenly, facing the panic-stricken crowd. Nel and Clair stood idly in front, looking anxious but resilient. "_WHO_!"

No one moved.

Roaring in rage, Adray picked up a beefy man in the front by the scruff of his neck, holding him above the crowd. "Who… did… this…!" he hissed.

"Father! Put him down! NOW!"

"Uncle Adray, stop it! Don't make us force you!"

"WHO?"

"Fire Bolt!" Nel cried suddenly, but Adray absorbed the two balls of fire as if they were air. He violently shook the man he had grasped by the throat.

"A… a boy named Fayt Leingod…" he gasped. The name rung a bell. Fayt Leingod… No. Sophia's best friend? He always knew that kid was trouble; always wanting to solve his problems by duking it out in the Battle Simulator. Well… he was in for a fight now, wasn't he?

Adray dropped the man a few feet from his left and promptly snatched Nel's dagger from her hand where she had been preparing to use it if necessary. He immediately bent down and began scratching into the marble floor a symbol.

"Father, what are you doing!" Clair cried, trying to stop him. But the look of pure demon in Adray's eyes was enough to throw her backwards without physical force exerted.

"I'm going to find him and kill him like he killed my poor Sophia."

"Uncle Adray, no! You can't do that!" screamed Nel, attempting to retrieve her dagger. But even as she pulled violently on the hilt of the blade, Adray continued to ignore her and effortlessly finished the symbol. Glaring at the others, he stepped inside and brought the murdering bastard's face to the front of his mind.

"TELEPORTATION!"

A brief tingling sensation erupted around his body and he seemed melt quickly in one spot before suddenly shooting back up in another. A sudden brightness caused his vision to blur, when he realized that the excessive light blue around him meant that he was in Arkives. How had the boy gotten here? This place was farther away from Aquaria in the opposite direction than Airyglyph. Perhaps the boy had run all night and not stopped.

Adray's keen senses began searching for any clue that may have lead to his opponent. Where would a boy go if in hiding from murder?

"Come on, Fayt… where are you?"

It was then that he saw him emerging from the transportation terminal that lead to Gemity. Adray had to exercise full control not to roast the boy with an Explosion symbol at that very moment. Instead, he waited as the boy drew closer, looking highly anxious, to grab his by the back of the neck and lead him to a secluded quarter of Arkives where there were no people or houses.

"You killed Sophia," Adray muttered, his anger suddenly taking over. He charged a symbol tattooed on his arm, Blood Scylla, as he stared deep into the boy's fearful eyes. "Now you shall die. Blood Sy-!''

Adray suddenly found it difficult to speak, as Fayt had produced a sword from his back and thrust it swiftly across Master Adray's throat. The poor man, in his vengeance, had committed the heinous hubris of talking rather than acting. Fayt had used that to his advantage, and now… the talker would pay with his life…

Adray sank to his knees as Fayt backed away, shaking, tears running down his face at the realization of what he had just done. That was two people he had killed now. How long would he be able to hide?

But Adray was not so easily finished, for Fayt had not completely taken away his abilities. Thought it helped, speaking the symbol was not always necessary. So, placing his hand on the ground, Adray activated the symbol on his palm; one of his own creation which he called simply Sirocco, a tribute to the warm desert winds of the same name.

Fayt darted forward to crush the man's hand, but a wall of flame rose up two inches from where he stood and rushed past him, searing his skin from the immense heat. Two, three more waves of flame and Fayt lay on the ground, smoldering. Adray, too, was on the ground, blood pouring from the lethal wound on his throat. Fayt thought him dead, but as his hand began to glow one more time, Fayt mustered enough strength to cry, "Explosion!"

A giant sphere of flame appeared over Adray's weak body and began pelting it with fire from every angle. From the depths of the inferno, Fayt heard only one shriek.

The flames cleared, and all that remained of the Symbology Master was a charred corpse.

Clair and Nel were marching up the streets of Aquios, a plethora of emotions running through them both.

"Where did he go?" Nel demanded from no one in particular. "And why couldn't we use his rune after he did? How did he keep up from even copying it?"

Clair shook her head. "He was the Runology Master, not we. He probably wanted to ensure that we didn't follow him. Don't worry, Nel, it'll be all right. He'll calm down and then come back here. Everything'll be fine."

They walked through the castle to Nel's room in anxious silence. Nel threw open the door and entered, surprised to see a familiar blue-haired woman smiling at her from the chair at Nel's desk.

"Maria? What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you all day! I thought you would be off of work by now! I wanted to go to Pessotto Forest and do some extermination. We haven't hunted together in almost a week. Please, Nel? C'mon!"

Nel glanced at Clair, who shrugged. "You need the time to relax. Go. I'll stay here and keep an eye out for Father while you're gone. Don't worry." She parted on those words, closing the door behind her, leaving Nel to her worried thoughts.

"Nel? What's wrong? What's happened to Adray?"

Nel shook her head dismissively. "It's nothing, it's just…" she sighed and reluctantly explained the situation to her friend. Maria, who had known her since early childhood, and who listened better than any person she knew, even if she wasn't able to give sound advice.

"Oh, no… Maria, I'm so sorry… my sister, Peppita, you know, goes to the same school… I wonder if she knew Sophia… I've heard of Fayt before, though… I heard his name from Albel when he came here once looking for work after he was expelled. Something like he had beaten him at the Battle Simulator, or something like that."

Nel shrugged again. "I suppose… Well, there's no use dwelling on it, is there? Uncle Adray, eccentric though he may be, is more than capable of taking care of himself. And he knows better than to kill someone, even if it takes him until sword-point to realize that it's wrong." She paused, staring sadly at the floor, then beamed suddenly at Maria. "C'mon. Let's go have a little bit of fun; we've still got a couple hours left of daylight."

And off they went.

A/N: Well… this one was hardly better than the first, but it's still not unbearable, I suppose. I found this one kind of difficult, even though I hate Adray so much. For one, I never use him (he's still at level eighteen) so I don't know much about his character, other than his attempt to ensure Clair's marriage. But I only know that because of having beaten the game and watched the ending.

So, I suppose… if you wanna tell me any mistakes I've made, I'll do my best to change them, as long as it doesn't involve having to completely rewrite this thing.

Another thing I'd like to apologize for is the lack of sustenance. So, in hopes of being redeemed, here's a small limerick:

_There once was a man with a large head_

_His daughter, he always tried to have wed_

_He's a stupid, stupid guy_

_I wish away he would fly_

_But it doesn't matter much now, 'cause he's dead._

Ten points for guessing whom it's about.

Anyway… you know the usual… please review and make me feel good about my life. Or make me hate it. Of course, making me hate it will probably throw me in a dark corner and force me to cut myself. Do you want me to cut myself? If you do, give me your name and I'll carve it into my arm. It'll be our little bond. If not, I like you better than they guy who wants me to carve his name into my arm. What is he, crazy?


	3. The Stricken Niece

_Anyway… so I took a little break. A few days, granted, so not that long of a break, but a break just the same. So, let me be the first to say "Wow!" I gotta say, I was definitely not expecting to have reviews already. I mean, I suppose I could've expected one, maybe, but… yeah, wow. Thanks a lot. None of you reviewers hate me! Hoorah! This means I can write you down in my journal of "Reviewers Who Don't Hate Me." It's a special notebook where I write down reviewers who don't hate me…_

_I'm rambling._

_All right, so… I suppose I'd better bring you the next installment of this unexpectedly well-thought-of fanfic "The Stricken Niece."_

_Oh, and to clarify things once more: Clair was indeed Nel's best friend, but for this story's purpose, Maria was also one. Remember, Battle Mode doesn't technically have a story, so I made one up. Nobody is from anywhere else other than Elicoor. Quark doesn't exist, etcetera, etcetera. And there are LOADS of relationship changes. You'll notice them, trust me. Incidentally, one happens to be in this chapter._

Versus 

Chapter Three: The Stricken Niece

"Maria, I'm worried about him. He's been gone for three days, and when he's not on assignment, it's not like him."

Nel paced around her friend's house, running her thumb nervously over the edge of her currently used dagger. It was, in fact, a piece from a set that Adray had given her upon returning from one of his more recent missions.

Maria stood up, frowning, placing her hands on Nel's shoulders to steady her. "Don't' worry, all right? He's a big man. A powerful man, at that. You know as well as I do that he can take care of himself."

Nel hung her head and sighed. "Maybe, but… I'm still worried. Even being big and powerful, he's still a good person, and he doesn't kill if he can help it…"

Maria backed away and stared out of a window into the moonlit streets. Considering it was probably after midnight, technically it might have been four days since Adray's… departure. Nel could tell just by looking at her pondering face that she, too, was beginning to realize the extreme situation that Adray could potentially have gotten involved in.

"I think I'm going to go look for him," Nel said suddenly and decisively, sheathing the dagger and fastening it back to her belt.

"Nel, no." Maria's head snapped back around and stared her in the face. "You can't. Her Majesty needs you here, doesn't she?"

"But she needs Uncle Adray more than I! I am nothing compared to him…"

Maria slapped her.

"Wha…?"

"Nel Zelpher, stop speaking like that this instant! You have a job, a duty to protect the people of Aquaria, don't you? Well, do your job and let other people worry about finding your uncle!"

"Like whom? Who would you suggest go and look for him?"

Maria shrugged. "I'll go."

Nel inhaled deeply and released the breath slowly. She knew that her friend was going to say that, but she wasn't so sure if she was all right with it or not. It wasn't a question of fighting ability, Apris knew that the girl could handle herself; it was more of a quandary as to whether or not she would be able to hold out such an investigation for long without drawing too much attention. Clever as Maria was, sometimes she could be painfully conspicuous.

"Are you sure?" Nel asked finally, crossing her arms. "You don't have to."

Maria nodded her head curtly. "I want to. You're my friend, and I care for Adray, too. It's not like I have anything else to do."

"What about looking after Peppita?"

"She's fine: she goes to school and she comes home."

"Do you want her staying by herself? What if she runs out and gets lost?"

Maria flapped her hand to brush the matter away. "My sister can take care of herself; you're forgetting who she lives with. Now… back to the matter at hand. I think I'll leave and look for Adray in the morning, all right? For now… I think it's best if we both rest up a little. You look close to fainting."

Nell shrugged.

_What am I going to do? That's two people I've killed. Where am I going to go? Who's going to help me? What can I do?_

Fayt walked with his hands thrust into his pockets, trying to look nonchalant as he walked about the streets of Peterny, on his way towards Airyglyph. He wasn't sure what he would find there, just that it was far from Aquios, and he would be under their jurisdiction and therefore their protection. Hopefully the peace between them wasn't enough to keep them from protecting him.

As he neared the south gate and smiled emotionlessly at the guard, a sudden, rash idea came to his mind. It was crazy, no doubt, but… perhaps it would work for a little while.

The last he had heard, his old rival, Albel, had been staying in Kirlsa, working as a slayer of the monsters and thieves that roamed outside of the city walls. Fortunately, Kirlsa was Airyglyph territory, so he should have more protection there than here. All he needed to do was cross through Arias and over the Aire Hills…

He eventually reached his destination two days later, having spent one night at an inn in Arias. He was careful not to draw too much attention to himself, but he couldn't help feeling that people were casting strange looks his way. _Could they have known_?

Fayt practically threw himself across the border between Aire Hills and Kirlsa, ecstatic to be in a place of safety. He was tired, hungry, and needed to find Albel as soon as possible. The former two would have to wait; Albel was most important.

A random soldier walking by answered his question of, "Have you seen a boy called Albel Nox around here? I need to speak with him. It's very important."

The soldier nodded and pointed towards a building at the south end of the town. "It's a workshop. Last I heard, he needed to fix that creepy fake arm of his. He's probably still in there."

Fayt nodded and thanked the man briefly before practically running towards the indicated building. He threw open the door.

"Hello? Albel?" he called immediately, looking around. But no one answered.

He stepped inside, ignoring the roaring fire whose heat was pounding him from every angle, and peered into the corners. Still no one. Frustrated and angry, he turned around and found himself facing the sharp end of a sword.

"Well, well, well… the maggot crawled out of the filth he calls home, did he? What brings him here?"

Fayt sighed in relief, despite his impending doom. "I need you help, Albel. I'm … I'm in trouble."

The sword tip lowered, but didn't vanish, and Fayt was able to see a malicious-looking face that belonged to Albel the Wicked.

"And so why have you come to me? What is it that you think I can – or will – do for you?" Albel's rough yet strangely smooth voice always made Fayt think of a crystal clear stream of boiling water: Beautiful at first, but when one drew closer, one found himself in agony.

"I've done a bad thing, Albel – a really bad thing. I can't face it alone. I need your help. I can't fight them by myself."

"Fight whom? Monsters? Your skills are pathetic, worm, but I never thought them to be dreadful. Are you saying I'm wrong?"

Fayt glared into the other boy's eyes, feeling a choking in his throat and a burning in his own. _Don't cry, whatever you do, don't cry_. "It's… I dunno… Whoever comes after me."

Albel lowered his blade at this and even sheathed it. "What have you done? I can tell by your voice that it must be serious. Tell me."

Fayt felt his head drop, but Albel's hand grasped his chin and jerked it up, staring him in the eyes. "Don't look at the floor, fool, look at me! Tell me what you did that causes you this much fear."

Fayt swallowed. "I… I killed people. Two of them."

Albel slid his hand slowly from Fayt's chin, a nasty grin playing about his face, illuminating every one of his deadly beautiful features. "So the worm has fangs, who knew? Who did you kill?"

But Fayt couldn't bring himself to say her name. How could he? How was he even worthy of speaking it? She had been such a good person, and all she had done was what he had asked by coming to see him. But… but she had betrayed him! She had bested him in the Battle Simulator when it was he who was the better fighter! No one was greater than he!

"Sophia!" he spat, hatred emphasizing every syllable. "And her Symbology master, Adray."

Albel stared at him for a brief moment and then erupted into laughter. "You killed your best friend? Even I wouldn't… oh, you poor fool…" He chuckled in hilarity to himself until his spasms subsided and then faced Fayt again. "So tell me finally: What is it that you wish me to do?"

"I need you to hide me," Fayt said quickly. "Or, at least, don't tell anyone where I am."

Albel brushed this away with a motion of his hand. "You can stay with me, I don't care. But you… you killed your best friend!"

And he was lost again to howls of laughter.

Maria found herself at Arkives, having asked for information on a strange, blue-haired boy looking out of place. Since the people of Arkives followed a different path of life, they were able to easily remember he and his strange clothing.

"The last I saw of him," a kind old woman was telling her, "he was walking away from the crowd that had surrounded the body of that man."

Maria's throat tightened. "Man? What man?" she asked quickly.

The woman took no notice of her potential rudeness, but seemed pleased to be speaking with her altogether. "Why, there was a fight! It didn't last long; by the time that people had come out to see, there was this great dome of fire! Security hurried him away for privacy, but I got a good look at him. A big man with a sword and a dress, burnt to a crisp." She looked positively delighted.

Maria's heart skipped a beat. A big man with a sword and a dress? That could only mean Adray, much as she didn't want to admit it. The great dome of fire that the old lady had mentioned was probably the Symbology spell Explosion. _Poor Adray… he must have suffered a lot_…

Restraining and stiffening herself, Maria looked at the old lady again. "How long ago did this happen?"

"Oh, about five days or so. I remember because it was the day that I had to feed my –"

"Thank you, ma'am, for all of your help. I'm afraid that I must be going now."

Maria walked away, flipped her hair over her shoulder. So… the Leingod boy had somehow managed to kill Adray, too? The best Symbologist in all of Aquaria? His skills were unprecedented, then, making him highly dangerous. Too bad of taking the boy in alive, if he decided to fight, then, wasn't it?

Maria arrived back in Aquios the next day, fatigue eating away at her and hunger almost overpowering. She had felt such a need to return that nothing seemed more important. She collapsed onto her bed as soon as she walked through her door, calling out for Nel, but there was no answer.

"Nel? Nel! Where are you?"

As she sat up, her head spinning, Peppita half walked, half skipped into her bedroom. "Are you looking for Nel?" she asked, frowning. "She said something the day before yesterday about going to go find Fayt. You know, the one who's better than everyone at the Battle Simulator? I wanted to fight him once, but Ms. Koas wouldn't let me, and I –"

"Woah, Peppita, hang on. Nel went to look for him? Look for Fayt?"

Her younger sister nodded. "Yeah. She said it almost immediately after Her Majesty announced Sir Adray's death. That's so sad, isn't it? I liked him a lot."

Maria's head began to spin again, but not because of malnutrition. Word had passed her as she made her way to Arkives. She had arrived there in time to find out what the rest of Aquios was discovering. Which meant that Nel knew what had happened to Adray, and she was on her way to settle things.

"Peppita, I need you to stay here, okay? I have to take another little trip. I won't be very long. Can you do that for me?"

Peppita nodded. "Of course I can! I can fight!"

Maria nodded and hugged her. "I know you can. You know why? 'Cause you're my little sister, that's why."

"Stop it! Go!"

Maria obliged, charging through the front door.

Peppita sighed, skipping to the door and closing it after her big sister. "She's so weird all of the time."

"Excuse me? Have you seen a boy here lately? He's a little taller than I am with blue hair and… Have you seen him?"

The innkeeper at Arias thought for a moment. "Blue hair? Yeah, I think so. I'm pretty sure I did, anyway. Kinda skinny? Looks scared?"

_He's right to be scared._

"That's him."

"Yeah, he was here a couple days ago. He headed off towards Kirlsa."

Nel bowed her head. "Thank you very much."

Kirlsa. She was almost near him now. She could practically feel her blade slashing across his flesh as his had across her uncle's. The moment that Her Majesty the Queen had uttered the words "Sir Adray Lasbard has passed," Nel had torn out of the audience chamber and immediately headed south.

She crossed Aire Hills in record time, less than four hours. She had been running.

But now she was in Airyglyph territory, and had to be careful. Though Fayt was still a citizen of Aquaria, Airyglyph soldiers loved any excuse to tie up Aquarian soldiers, who were predominantly female.

It was then that a past snippet of conversation filled Nel's mind again. When she had spoken to Clair a few weeks ago, hadn't she mentioned that Albel Nox had come here?

It seemed that luck played in her favor today, as almost as if in response to her query, the Wicked One himself emerged from the grocer's, tearing away at a loaf of bread.

"Albel Nox!" she called, sprinting to his side.

"Pay me," he said immediately, without even looking at her.

"Sorry? I need to know if –"

"Pay me and I'll tell you where he is."

Nel, suspicious but desperate, handed over all of the Fol she had on her person, an impressive three hundred thousand. Albel smiled wickedly at her. "He's this way. Follow me."

He led her to the southern part of the town towards a small house. He stopped outside of the door and waited. "Well? Go on in?"

"You were expecting me. Is he, too? Is he in there waiting to spring a trap?"

"I'm only expecting you because he told me to. What he's doing in there, I don't know. Now go in, fool, before I kill you, myself."

_Your fight is not with him. Avenge your uncle. Kill Fayt Leingod_.

Nel placed her hand by the door and invoked a rune inscribed on her hand, which promptly blasted the door off of its hinges and across the room. A loud bang and second thud when it landed announced that Fayt had indeed been preparing something, but he had been knocked backwards.

She stepped inside and immediately aimed her hand at the door, waiting for him to move.

But he didn't.

She stood there, aware of Albel's watchful presence in the doorway, and waited for him. Slowly, she began to back away. Was he waiting for her to come closer?

"Oh, this is pitiful!" Albel moaned. "If you're going to do it, worm with fangs, do it now."

Nel glared at him, promising pain to him for calling her such a thing, but before she could think anything else, she heard a loud cry: "Dimension Door!"

A burst of red smoke billowed out from under the door, followed by another right in front of her. A searing pain tore across her front, flinging her to the side, where she slammed into the wall.

Fayt materialized from the smoke, holding out his sword with both hands, which were dripping in her blood. She struggled to get to her feet, but the pain in her stomach seared and she collapsed, unable to move. Fayt, looking slightly relieved, removed one hand from his sword and aimed it at her.

"Lightning Blast!"

Albel the Wicked laughed in great amusement as Nel's body jerked spasmodically, tearing at the large and already lethal wound in her stomach, allowing the blood to flow more freely. The attack ended, and as her body lay limp on the ground, pale, blood spreading across the floor, Albel clapped twice.

"Not bad, worm. You killed another comrade."

Fayt threw his sword down. "I can't keep doing this! Why did she attack me! What did I do to her! I didn't even know her!"

Albel shook his head. "You fool. She was the Symbologist's niece. She probably heard what you had done and came to finish you off."

_No… No. Not again. No more killing. I'm done. I'll go turn myself in right now_.

Fayt snatched his sword from the floor and burst out of the house, barreling into someone. Frantically, he took off towards the eastern gate of Kirlsa.

Albel turned around and saw another blue-haired individual, who was staring in horror and disgust at Nel's body on the ground.

"Nel… Oh, Nel… I told you that you shouldn't have come, didn't I? Oh, no…"

Maria knelt beside her, not caring about the blood, and cradled her friend's corpse. What a stupid woman…

"Your sentimentality sickens me," Albel breathed. "If you want to put things right, go after the one who did this. He's running away. That way." He pointed with his fake arm.

Maria stood up forcefully while whirling around and drove her fist into the side of Albel's face. He fell to the ground, and while he wiped at the blood from his lip, Maria sprinted angrily after the boy who had killed her best friend.

_A/N: Eww… I'm sorry. But… you know… eww… Right now, the time is 6:17 a.m. and I have yet to go to bed. I'll reread this later, but I doubt it'll get much better. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. So… well, you know the drill… Read and review?_

_I really hope that no one likes Nel too much… I mean, I do, but… well… Poor dear, I do so ever hope that she'll be all right._

_Which she won't 'cause she's been… well… eviscerated._

_So, yeah… sorry…_


End file.
